Bayne Rebounds To Finish 18th In NRA 500 At Texas

Trevor Bayne and the Motorcraft/Quick Lane crew had a good night going at Texas Motor Speedway on Saturday when an untimely caution flag put them nearly two laps down just after Bayne made his final pit stop in the NRA 500. Even so, Bayne and his Wood Brothers team used the wave-around rule to rejoin the lead lap and score an 18th-place finish.

Bayne started the race in 22nd position and immediately began to work his way forward. Halfway through the race, he was running in the top 15 and looking for more.

As the crew was preparing to make its final scheduled stop, Bayne noticed a fluctuation in the fuel pressure on his No. 21 Motorcraft/Quick Lane Ford Fusion so he came to pit road. The pit stop was flawless, but the caution flag flew before the rest of the leaders stopped, knocking Bayne and the Wood Brothers off the lead lap.

Crew chief Donnie Wingo elected to take the wave-around on the race’s final caution period and rejoin the lead lap, but doing so meant that Bayne would have to make the final green-flag run without the benefit of fresh tires or a chassis adjustment. Still he was able to bring the car home in 18th place.

“We had a good night, and it could have easily been much better,” team co-owner Eddie Wood said. “We were running with Carl Edwards and Greg Biffle when the caution caught us. They finished third and fourth, and we would have been right there with them.”

Wood said he was pleased with every aspect of his team’s performance.

“Trevor did a good job,” he said. “Donnie called a great race. The pit crew had a good night.

“Everybody did what they were supposed to do. That one caution flag, which couldn’t be helped, was our only problem.”

Bayne and the Motorcraft/Quick Lane crew return to the Sprint Cup Series on May 3-5 for the Aaron’s 499 at Talladega Superspeedway.